Best places to dine in London for Valentines 2017 – Valentine’s Day restaurant round up

Take a look at our round up of Valentine’s activity listed below, including bespoke cocktails such as Dirty BonesDirty Little Secret, Threadneedle Bar’s Lulu Guinness cocktail collaboration, and a sharing cocktail (with heart balloon) at The Distillery in Bankside.

In addition, there are sharing menus at the newly opened Aquavit London and Tom’s Kitchen and exclusive menus at The Stafford, Launceston Place, All Star lanes, TwoRuba andPlum + Spilt Milk.

Lulu loves the Grand Café: The Royal Exchange partners with Lulu Guinness for month-long Valentine’s collaboration

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, The Royal Exchange has teamed up with Lulu Guinness to bring a splash of chic style to the Grand Café and Threadneedle Bar. From 8 February to 10 March, guests will be able to enjoy an exclusive range of cocktails and desserts inspired by the luxury British accessories designer, while the Grand Café will be adorned with decorations that exude Lulu’s striking and distinctive style.

Cocktails will include the Dark Kiss Fizz with plum sake, Staibano Lemon Cream Liqueur, Chambord, chocolate bitters, and prosecco, while Executive Head Chef, Stefano Leone, has created the Stripes & Lips dessert exclusively for the collaboration. There will also be a further incentive to enjoy this wonderful collaboration, with guests who spend over £50 at The Royal Exchange receiving a £15 voucher for purchases over £100 at Lulu Guinness, while those spending over £75 at Lulu Guinness receiving one complimentary Lulu Guinness cocktail, and those spending over £100 receiving two complimentary cocktails.

In honour of Valentine’s Day, from 13-19 February Dirty Bones Shoreditch and Dirty Bones Carnaby will be offering guestsTheDirty Little Secret cocktail. This Dirty Bones version of a classic Clover Club will be a little sweet, a little sour, with a dash of bitterness and a lot of booze – basically Valentine’s Day summed up in a glass! TheDirty Little Secret incorporates Tanqueray gin, Belsazar Rosé Vermouth, agave honey and lemon juice, shaken with egg white and finished with rose water and chocolate bitters. www.dirty-bones.com

Valentines at TwoRuba

They say size doesn’t matter but TwoRuba are busting this myth with four limited-edition sharing cocktails, perfect for two.

Celebrate the excitement of your union with the Colour Of Love – a fruity and fizzy combination of Cava, cranberry, strawberry, Crème de cassis and rum – or crank things up a gear with the Passion Punch, which is a heady aphrodisiac of Vanilla Vodka, passion fruit and Chambord. And of course no Valentine’s Day would be complete without flowers – which is why TwoRuba have two luscious libations that are exceedingly better than any bunch picked up from the local supermarket.

The Floral Fancy is a beautiful mixture of peach, elderflower, apple and orange bitters, and is reminiscent of an English garden at dusk, while A Rose Between 2 Thorns epitomises the essence of Valentine’s Day with its sweet, fragrant and delectable notes of fruit tea, rose syrup and caramel rum.

Executive Chef Paul Bates will cook up a storm this Valentine’s Day with a unique four-course taster menu for £40 per person. Start with Warm chicken croquette, tarragon, quail egg and red cabbage slaw before choosing from three main-course dishes including Rib eye steak, potato celeriac terrine, pumpkin puree, mistral sauce or Lasagne of Grilled broccoli steak, black quinoa, Victoria tomatoes, Banyuls vinegar. Finish off the night with a sharing platter of desserts and OXBO’s “Pick and Mix”. This delicious four-course menu is available 10th-14th February from 6-10pm and includes a glass of bubbles on arrival.

Situated in the heart of St James’s, luxury five-star boutique hotel The Stafford will invite guests to celebrate Valentine’s Day in style with a fabulous set menu, priced at £75 per head including a glass of champagne on arrival. Highlights from the menu include Smoked haddock, apple, curry emulsion and quail eggs, 16oz British grass-fed chateaubriand with béarnaise sauce and French fries for two; and for dessert, a delicious Pistachio soufflé with white chocolate ice cream. The menu will be available on 10th, 12th and 14th February.

Treat someone special this Valentine’s Day at Plum + Spilt Milk. Michelin-star Chef Director Mark Sargeant has created a decadent three course sharing menu available exclusively on Tuesday 14th February. The menu features an impressive native seafood platter to start followed by 32-day aged beef wellington with goose-fat roast potatoes and a rich red wine sauce. To finish, guests can enjoy Valrhona chocolate fondue with marshmallows, madeleines and praline profiteroles. The Valentine’s Day menu is priced at £80 per person including a glass of champagne on arrival.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, newly appointed Head Chef Ben Murphy has created a special seven course menu of indulgent dishes. Perfectly suited to the Valentine’s season and priced at £100 per head, the menu includes Ben’s signatureCarrot, Lovage, Yogurt and Caraway and Lobster, Yuzu, Fennel and Coriander, followed by Strawberry, herbs, vanilla and meringue for dessert.

On Tuesday 14 February, Tom’s Kitchen restaurants are offering diners a wonderful selection of Valentine’s Day dishes to share with that special someone. To begin, guests can choose from Venison Tartar with sourdough toast and slow cooked egg; or Salmon en croute with lemon and Champagne sauce, before sharing main courses including Whole Roasted Newlyn Brill with chive and lobster butter sauce and shaved fennel salad or Cumbrian chateaubriand steak with triple cooked chips and truffle. For dessert, guests can chose from Bruce’s sharing dessert board or the Maltesers ice cream sundae. The sharing specials will be available for dinner on Tuesday 14 February at Tom’s Kitchen restaurants in Chelsea, St Katharine Docks, Canary Wharf, Somerset House, and the newly opened restaurant in Birmingham, and will be served in addition to the regular a la carte menus.

On Tuesday 14th February, Aquavit London will be serving an exclusive four course menu with a Nordic twist. Guests will start the dinner with a plate of Vendace roe to share and roasted scallops from the Isle of Orkney, followed by a slow roast beef chateaubriand, perfect for sharing. Dessert will be Rhubarb based Alaska for the table to share. In addition, a special Alskling cocktail will also be included in the special meal, taking its name for the Swedish term for ‘darling’ or ‘sweetheart’. Aquavit London opened at the end of last year in the stunning new St James’s Market redevelopment on 1 Carlton Street. Taking inspiration from the renowned Aquavit New York, but with a new more relaxed dining concept and setting, this restaurant showcases the very best of Nordic cuisine and design.

From Friday 10th February to Valentine’s Day, All Star Lanes will be offering a special Dine, Drink and Bowl experience for £38 – including two courses from their homemade American style menu, a full game of bowling and a choice of one of their two limited-edition cocktails (the Rock & Rose Martini concocted of Henro gin with Rosie Liqueur, crushed raspberry with cherry bitters, or the French Negroni with Cognac, Rose Liqueur, Campari served on the rocks).

For an extra £3 a head, diners get an upgrade to three courses and an opportunity to try the Valentine’s sharing dessert. The twist on the traditional cheesecake is a generous stack of homemade American pancakes for two, layered with whipped Vanilla cheesecake, smothered in strawberries and champagne sauce topped with crunchy biscuit. Both the ‘Cheesecake’ sharer and the two limited edition cocktails can also be purchased over the 5 day event a la carte, too (Valentine’s cocktails £8.50 each, sharer dessert £6).

For those ‘head over heels,’ and those still ‘playing the field,’ All Star Lanes is ready for you…

This Valentine’s Day, The Distillery’s expert mixologists will be conjuring up love potions with a ‘Pour me for Love’ sharing cocktail. Their concoction is made using vodka, strawberry mint shrub, cranberry infused prosecco and served with a delicious rose liquor jelly and edible blossom. The sharing cocktail costs £16 and is available from 10th -14thFebruary from 6 pm onwards. Polaroid cameras will also be on hand at the bar to capture the special moment, making the perfect Valentine’s Day evening.

Alternatively, for those staying at home, recipe boxes from The Mindful Chef and skinny Champagne from Thomson & Scott.

Eating in is the new eating out – Mindful Chef, an alternative way to celebrate Valentine’s Day

Rumour has it (or so the Waitrose Food & Drink report 2016 says) 4 in 10 of us see going out for a meal as less of a treat than we used to. We’re learning to make a night ‘in’ an occasion, so this year instead of joining every other couple on Valentine’s Day by going out to a restaurant for a generic Valentines set menu, why not celebrate by staying in? Mindful Chef, the healthy recipe box delivery service make cooking at home easy and ordering one of their 2 person boxes is the ideal way to enjoy a night in with your loved one.

They offer eight weekly changing recipes and the instructions are simple to follow and the meals are easy to make; helping make chefs out of even the most inexperienced of cooks. All recipes contain fresh, locally sourced meat and fish, organic vegetables and delicious herbs and spices. Recipe boxes and ingredients are delivered straight to your door (free of charge in the UK) meaning on this romantic evening, you can be in charge of ambience as well as the food and you don’t even have to drive to the supermarket in preparation!

Thomson & Scott Skinny Champagne Grand Cru Rosé is a beautifully crafted champagne with up to 0.1g of sugar per litre from Amanda Thomson’s portfolio of top quality Champagne and Prosecco. This elegant Champagne has a deep colour with intense aromas of redcurrants and English raspberries with a delicate note of cold, salted butter and fresh cream. Subtle and refined on the tongue, a bottle of Thomson & Scott Skinny Champagne Grand Cru Rosé is the sophisticated way to toast this year’s Valentine’s day.